- What Is The Gift Of The Holy Spirit?
- What Is The Gift Of The Holy Spirit?
- What Does The Holy Spirit Do In The Life Of The Christian Today?
- Gifts From The Holy Spirit
- Baptism And The Holy Spirit
- The Work Of The Holy Spirit In The Life Of The Christian (An Outline)
- Responses To The Holy Spirit – An Outline
Peter said it… “The promise is for you and your
children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call”
(Acts 2:39). This verse carries as much weight as verse 38… Paul said, “You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of
God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not
belong to Christ” (Romans 8:9).
I BELIEVE THAT EVERY PERSON WHO HAS REPENTED, AND BEEN BAPTIZED HAVE BEEN ARE FORGIVEN, AND HAVE RECEIVED THE INDWELLING PRESENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD.
Either that ALL CHRISTIANS HAVE THE SPIRIT or NONE have received the Holy Spirit. It is no more difficult for the Spirit to dwell in a million than 12. I find no middle ground on this in scriptures. Jesus said it, promised it… Peter and Paul both preached it…. I believe it. Paul confirms this in I Corinthians 6:19 “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own.”
Let’s carefully question the next one who is to be baptized. “Are you
saved?” “No, not yet”. “Are you wet?” “No not yet”. Continue the questioning after baptism. “Are you wet?” “Yes”. “Are you saved? “Yes”. If all that takes place between the ‘dry’ and the ‘wet’ is water, why does Paul write “For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.” (I Corinthians 12:13). Jesus taught Nicodemus, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. (John 3:5). One birth, two elements.
Both are equally essential, and serve a different purpose in the picture of being saved. If one denies that baptism is necessary for salvation, he necessarily invalidates the life giving Spirit, for they are both JOINED and necessary in the new birth according to Jesus, this much is plain. Paul said “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life” (Romans 6:4). It is my conviction that the scriptures clearly teach that all those that receive the good news of Jesus Christ, who turn from sin and are born again in a birth of WATER AND SPIRIT, and not only receive the remission of sins but also the gift of the Holy Spirit (or the Holy Spirit as a gift).